Nail Art: Scotch Tape Manicure…on a MAN!

Yup, I once again convinced my friend to let me do some nail art on him. No, he didn’t wear it in public, but he was still a great sport. 😉

This was the first Scotch Tape manicure I’ve ever done, and I was surprised by how easy it was to do!

In case you don’t know what a Scotch Tape manicure is, it’s when you use the tape as a guide to cover certain parts of your nails, so that when you remove those pieces after painting, you’re left with a nifty little design.

I started painting all his nails with gold glitter. Then I applied a coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat so we wouldn’t have to wait long for the polish to dry. I applied two pieces of Scotch tape in a pyramid position on each of his nails, and then painted the open-triangle section. I carefully removed the tape, and voila, we got the design you see!

Since it was my first time, I opted to create a simple triangular design on his nails. And I let him choose the colour combination. (Red is his favourite colour, and he liked the way the gold glitter looked underneath.)

Later in this post, my own nails make a brief appearance. 😉 I couldn’t help but try a Scotch Tape manicure on myself using different colours!

Hahahaha, oh my! If I woke up one day, and my hands just morphed into man hands like that, I would freak out! Hahaha, and they’d be so disproportionate because his hands are much bigger than mine. I can just picture my hands dragging on the floor. Funny mental image!

haha, what a friend he must be letting you paint his nails! 🙂 even though he didn’t went public. I think I loved the ones on your hand more just because I liked the purple combination more.

I’ve tried doing tape manis but haven’t managed to get them nice. My nails are very curved both vertical and horizontal so I haven’t yet magange to get the pyramid shape, just like an eye-shape if you know what I mean. I think that the advantage with tape manis is that they are sharp and the result look the same on each nail, pure perfection, more than could be managed with free hand. However at this point I’m way better free handing all shapes but I guess I’ll practice. 🙂Gelic’ nail art recently posted: Indian in spired large pearl rhinestone nail art

My nails are curvy, and I got good results because the tape I used was very sticky. I don’t suggest using the kind that isn’t as sticky because you may not get the nice, clean lines you’re looking for.

Wow Mary yet again a fabulous design 🙂
I love MANicures! Had my first professional one last week, the ladies at the salon enjoyed it as much as I did and I gave the lady who did my nails a 20% tip 🙂
So I will most certainly be back for more, really wanna try some Gelish or nail art next time! 😛

Oh also I think I speak for all of your readers when I say we can’t wait to see the latest MANicure you created.
Carry on having fun 🙂

Good for you for properly tipping the nail technician when she did a great job. 🙂 I’ve never had my nails done professionally before, but I imagine that a lot of people don’t tip a lot in general. But when people do an outstanding job, I think it’s important to show your appreciation, especially since nail technicians’ salaries aren’t that high.

I love the mani on him 😉 I was wondering do you use the tan scotch tape or the plastic clear kind? Every time I have tried to do a mani with the regular, semi-clear kind I get nail polish to pull up… I wonder if I’m not patient enough… heh.

I was thinking of using painters tape and cutting it to the size I need. Don’t know if that will make a diff… what do you think?

The tape I used was the Scotch 3M brand tape with a “Matte Finish”. It seemed to work very well, but I did press it down very well before painting.

You know what? The next time you give it a whirl, try using a fast-drying clear top coat over your base colour. Then wait a bit before applying the tape. This will ensure that your polish is thoroughly dry. The tape shouldn’t pull up your base polish this way. Or, another thing you can do is do a scotch-tape manicure over a manicure you’ve worn for just a day. This way, your polish will be fully cured.

Painter’s tape is like masking tape, right? I’ve never tried it, but it should work as long as you press it down very well so the polish won’t seep underneath. I’m not sure if that type of tape would make a difference. I think the crucial thing for you is to make sure the base polish is thoroughly dry.